Nobody in the FC Dallas locker room should be happy right now. A lead in the 90th minute in Portland, gone. Two points dropped in the final minute. It’s the kind of result that either defines a road trip or derails it. The answer will depend a lot on what happens Saturday night at SnapDragon Stadium.
Here’s the silver lining nobody wants to say out loud: the opponent couldn’t be better timed. San Diego FC has won exactly once in their last 13 MLS matches, a stretch that includes a club-record nine-game winless run. On Wednesday night, San Diego added to that stretch by losing in stoppage-time 1-0 to the Colorado Rapids. This is a team that keeps finding new ways to not win games, a drastic contrast to their expansion campaign.
Dallas needs to take full advantage. Here’s what we’ll be watching for Saturday night.
San Diego’s Season Has Been One Long Controlled Demolition: Know What You’re Walking Into
The story of San Diego’s 2026 season is genuinely wild in the worst possible way. They started the season winning five of their first six games, including a Concacaf Champions Cup run. They looked like they were going to remain a legitimate Western Conference contender again in 2026, riding the energy of a squad that went to a Conference Final in their expansion season.
Then the wheels came off spectacularly. And it doesn’t even include the off-the-field drama involving Designated Player Hirving Lozano, who was written off as a guy the club didn’t need this season.
San Diego went winless through their next nine MLS matches, burning through the entire month of April and into May without a single victory. They ended the drought with a 5-0 demolition of Austin FC in mid-May, only to then go winless in their final two games before the World Cup break.
Following the World Cup break, they came back and lost their first game on Wednesday night 1-0 to Colorado, on a goal scored in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time.
Dallas should walk into SnapDragon Stadium with the confidence of a team that knows exactly what kind of opponent it’s facing.
Big D Soccer gives you the why — the tactical breakdowns, the honest assessments, the context that actually helps you understand what you watched on Saturday night.
If you're serious about this club, you should be reading all of it.
Ingvartsen and Dreyer Are Real, Don’t Treat This Like a Free Win
While San Diego has struggled for a long stretch of this season, they still have truly one of the best attacking combinations in MLS. You can’t write this team off, at all because of it.
Marcus Ingvartsen leads San Diego with 11 goals, just two behind Petar Musa’s 13 goals in the league’s Golden Boot race. He is physical and clinical inside the penalty area, and can be difficult to stop when San Diego get him the ball in areas he likes. Anders Dreyer leads MLS with nine assists right now. He leads the team in chances created and has also scored six goals of his own.
When those two are connecting with one another, San Diego can hurt anyone.
The difference between Ingvartsen’s 11 goals and San Diego’s 4-7-5 record is the defensive side of this team. They let in goals at a rate that erases whatever the attack produces. Dallas’ backline has been much better in recent road matches. As long as they limit the mistakes that gave up points in Portland on Wednesday night, limit the time Dreyer’s time on the ball and Ingvartsen’s touches inside the box, San Diego’s biggest weapons becomes a lot less scary.